Twitter Optimization Part 4: 10 Tools You Need for Business

Last time I promised a post about the 10 Twitter tools you need for using Twitter for business and in a professional manner.

I used Twitter just for fun, testing and finding out what it is about for a while and decided to professionalize it myself. You can’t even follow tweets about you right unless you use some special tools. You will miss opportunities due to overlooking important tweets in a mess of info overload.

1. A Twitter client for the device you mostly use to access Twitter
2. A tool that helps you track the mentions of your name, brand or most important keywords
3. A way to gain quick overview on what’s going on, on Twitter
4. Some WordPress blog integration to connect your online presence to the Twitter community
5. A favorite short URL service with analytics, proper redirects etc.
6. A groupware tool for business accounts for Twitter, those that represent a whole company or brand
7. A tool to find and sort out bad apples among your followers, those who waste your time and are too selfish
8. A way to measure your Twitter activity, some kind metrics that go beyond measuring the number of followers
9. A way to find people on Twitter you might be interested in or do want to do business with
10. Tools to enhance Twitter beyond the simple 140 characters and simple social networking,.

You will notice that I mention several tools for each issue you’ll face on Twitter. Also some tools work for more than one of those.

4. I’d recommend TwitterCounter. You may also add some gracious Twitter buttons, try the less flashy ones though.

5. Cli.gs is used by some SEO specialists. bit.ly is one of the most popular other than TinyURL short URL services. Both of them have stats. Cli.gs even has an API. bit.ly also tracks retweets.

6. Hootsuite offers even more features along with two URL shorteners. It allows to use a Twitter account by a team so it’s ideal for businesses. It’s Twitter groupware or more aptly described a Twitter CMS.

7. While TweetStats shows you, among others, who you real friends are, those that you converse mostly with Power Twitter mentioned above lets you search a particular user’s tweets. This way you can find out whether s/he ever addressed you, just search for your name.

9. While Twellow will allow you to find people who present themselves as members of an industry a service called Who Should i Follow really matches the people you’re most likely should follow based on your interests. It works astonishingly well, I get only top notch SEO experts suggested. Twellow in contrast offers some SEO experts and other tweeple I have never heard of. Also check out lists compiled by bloggers from each industry.

10. The simplicity of Twitter is it’s greatest advantage but at the same time also its biggest drawback. You can enhance Twitter to share pics, use audio, video too.

So as you see this post contains far more than 10 Twitter tools for business but you don’t have to use all of them. You should check them out and pick your favorites. I tested most of these tools myself so it’s not just a simple link list of all those I could find, it’s based on my experiences.

Last updated: April 21th, 2011 – removed several links, fixed or added a few new ones.